FreshBooks + BTCPay Server: Bitcoin for freelancers | payinbtc.me

FreshBooks is built for people who bill by project and by hour. More than 30 million small businesses have used it, across over 160 countries, and most of them are freelancers, consultants, agencies and creative studios rather than companies with a finance department. The invoicing side is strong. The collecting side gives you three ways to get paid online: FreshBooks Payments, Stripe Standard, and PayPal. Every one of them moves card or bank money, and every one of them takes a percentage.

That percentage is the part independent professionals feel, because their invoices are lumpy. Card payments through FreshBooks Payments start at 2.9 percent plus 30 cents, and ACH bank transfer runs 1 percent and is only offered for US clients. A single 3,000 dollar project milestone paid by card costs about 87 dollars to collect. Nothing about the work changed, and nothing about the invoice changed. The fee simply scaled with the size of the job. When a client then asks to pay in Bitcoin, there is no option for it in FreshBooks at all, and you are back to sending a wallet address by email and checking the rate yourself.

PayInBTC.me connects FreshBooks to BTCPay Server so a Bitcoin option sits on the invoices you send. BTCPay Server is open-source payment software rather than a payment company, so nobody takes a cut of the payment and nobody holds it on the way through. The client pays over Lightning or on-chain, the Bitcoin arrives in the wallet attached to your own BTCPay instance, and your FreshBooks workflow stays exactly as it is.

Why FreshBooks and BTCPay Server work together for independent professionals

A flat cost against a fee that grows with the invoice

Percentage pricing suits businesses with many small transactions. It works against a consultant sending four or five large invoices a quarter. At 2.9 percent plus 30 cents, collecting a 3,000 dollar milestone by card costs around 87 dollars, and collecting a 10,000 dollar retainer costs around 290. BTCPay Server takes nothing from the payment, because it is software you run rather than a processor you signed up with. PayInBTC.me charges a flat 1,500 sats per invoice, or a fixed monthly or yearly amount, so the cost of collecting a 500 dollar invoice and a 15,000 dollar invoice is identical.

No country list between you and your client

FreshBooks users are spread across more than 160 countries, but the built-in payment rails are narrower than the user base. ACH is offered only for US clients, and FreshBooks Payments powered by Stripe is available to businesses in the United States and Canada. A copywriter in Lisbon billing a studio in Toronto is already on Stripe Standard or PayPal and absorbing an FX spread on top of the processing fee. A Bitcoin payment through BTCPay Server has no eligibility check, no supported-country list, and no currency conversion on the way in. The client opens the payment page, scans a QR code, and the money is with you.

Software you run, not a merchant account you apply for

BTCPay Server is MIT licensed and has been developed in the open since 2017, funded by grants and donations rather than transaction revenue. There is no application, no underwriting, and no account manager who can decide your line of work is too risky and hold a balance while they review it. Independent professionals who have had a processor freeze a payout, or who work in categories that mainstream processors restrict, tend to arrive at BTCPay for exactly that reason. Nothing sits between the client's payment and your keys.

Hosted BTCPay for people who do not want to run a server

Self-hosting BTCPay means running a Bitcoin node, keeping it updated, and keeping it online. Most freelancers have no interest in that, and it is the usual reason a self-custody setup gets abandoned halfway. PayInBTC.me offers a hosted BTCPay Server add-on at 2,500 sats per month or 25,000 sats per year, fully managed, with the infrastructure, updates, monitoring and backups handled for you. Payments still settle to a wallet you control, and if you later want to run your own instance, you can move to it without changing anything on the FreshBooks side.

How the integration works

Setup takes about five minutes and needs no crypto knowledge. After that the flow runs on its own for every invoice you choose to offer it on.

Connect FreshBooks and BTCPay Server

Sign in to PayInBTC.me and link your FreshBooks account and your BTCPay Server store. The FreshBooks connection is read-only, so PayInBTC.me can see invoice details but cannot write to your books. If you do not run a BTCPay instance yet, the hosted add-on gives you one without any server work.

Add the Bitcoin link to an invoice

A 'Pay with Bitcoin' link is placed on the FreshBooks invoices you select. Your templates, invoice numbering, client records and existing payment options stay exactly as they are, so clients who want to pay by card still can.

Your client chooses to pay in Bitcoin

When the client clicks the link, PayInBTC.me reads the invoice total and currency from FreshBooks, calculates the Bitcoin amount at the live rate, and sends them to your BTCPay Server checkout with a QR code.

Payment settles to your wallet

The client pays over the Lightning Network for near-instant settlement, or on-chain for larger amounts. BTCPay Server passes the payment straight to the wallet you configured. It is non-custodial the whole way: neither BTCPay Server nor PayInBTC.me holds your funds.

You get a confirmation and mark the invoice paid

PayInBTC.me emails you when the payment clears, and it appears in your BTCPay Server dashboard against the invoice reference. Because the FreshBooks connection is read-only, you mark the invoice as paid in FreshBooks yourself. Automatic reconciliation is on the roadmap and is not available today.

What FreshBooks users get from this pairing

Nothing taken from the payment itself

BTCPay Server charges no processing fee at all. The only cost on the payment is the Bitcoin network fee, which the paying client covers, and PayInBTC.me's flat sats-based charge on your side.

Bitcoin under your own keys

Payments settle to the wallet attached to your BTCPay Server. For an independent professional who wants to keep part of their revenue in Bitcoin rather than convert everything, that means holding it directly instead of leaving it with a provider.

Clients anywhere, without an eligibility check

A client in a country your card processor does not serve well can still pay a FreshBooks invoice in Bitcoin. There is no supported-country list, no FX spread on the way in, and no waiting for an international transfer to clear on a Monday.

No chargebacks on delivered work

Bitcoin payments settle and stay settled. For freelancers who have lost a card payment to a dispute months after delivering the project, removing the reversal window removes a real risk on larger invoices.

Your FreshBooks setup is untouched

The integration adds a payment link and reads invoice data. Your templates, expense tracking, time entries, client list and existing FreshBooks payment options carry on as before.

Self-custody without the sysadmin work

Running BTCPay yourself is an option, not a requirement. The hosted add-on covers the node, updates, monitoring and backups at a fixed sats price, and you keep the same non-custodial settlement.

What it costs on a typical invoice

Take a 3,000 dollar project invoice, a common size for a FreshBooks consultant or small studio billing a milestone. Here is roughly what each way of collecting it costs.

Method	Cost on a $3,000 invoice	Notes
Card via FreshBooks Payments	About $87.30	2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, the stated starting rate
ACH bank transfer	About $30	1% per transfer, and only offered for US clients
Bitcoin via PayInBTC.me and BTCPay Server	About $1.50	Flat 1,500 sats per invoice on pay-per-use. BTCPay Server takes no processing fee; the client pays the Bitcoin network fee

The difference on this one invoice is roughly 86 dollars. A consultant sending fifteen invoices of this size a year is comparing around 1,300 dollars in card fees against about 23 dollars of flat charges, or 25,000 sats for the whole year on the annual plan. The percentage route gets more expensive as your projects get bigger, and the flat route does not.

Who this fits

Consultants and freelancers billing project-sized invoices

Independent professionals sending a handful of four-figure invoices a month, where a percentage fee is a visible line in the year's numbers and a flat charge per invoice is not.

FreshBooks users outside the United States and Canada

The people the built-in payment options serve least well. If FreshBooks Payments is not available where your business is registered, a Bitcoin option gives you a direct route that does not depend on which country you invoice from.

Agencies and studios with international clients

Teams billing across borders where card fees and currency conversion stack up on every project, and where a payment that settles in minutes beats an international transfer that takes days.

Independents who want to be paid in Bitcoin and keep it

Freelancers who already hold Bitcoin and would rather receive part of their revenue in it. BTCPay Server suits them specifically, because the payment never passes through a custodian on the way to their wallet.

Getting started

You need a FreshBooks account and a BTCPay Server store. If you do not want to run BTCPay yourself, the hosted add-on covers that side.

Set up your BTCPay Server store and connect the wallet you want payments to settle to, or add the hosted BTCPay add-on and skip the server work.
Register at payinbtc.me and link your FreshBooks account and your BTCPay Server store.
Turn on the Bitcoin payment link for the invoices you want to offer it on, then send one small invoice as a live test before you use it on a project milestone.

The first month is free, with three free invoices on pay-per-use, so you can put a real client payment through the setup before deciding whether it stays. Full setup instructions are at docs.payinbtc.me.

Get started free →

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this change how I create invoices in FreshBooks?

No. You invoice in FreshBooks exactly as you do now. PayInBTC.me adds a 'Pay with Bitcoin' link to the invoices you choose and reads the invoice number, amount and currency to build the payment. Your templates, numbering, client records and existing card and bank payment options stay as they are.

Do I have to run my own BTCPay Server?

Only if you want to. Self-hosting means running a Bitcoin node and keeping it online and updated, which suits some people and not others. PayInBTC.me offers a hosted BTCPay Server add-on at 2,500 sats per month or 25,000 sats per year, where we run the infrastructure, updates, monitoring and backups. Settlement stays non-custodial either way, and you can move to your own instance later without changing the FreshBooks connection.

Does the payment only work over the Lightning Network?

No. BTCPay Server supports both Lightning and on-chain Bitcoin payments. Smaller invoices tend to settle over Lightning in seconds for a fee measured in cents, while larger amounts can go on-chain. Your client chooses on the payment page.

Where does the Bitcoin end up?

In the wallet attached to your own BTCPay Server. Settlement is non-custodial, so the payment goes from your client through your BTCPay instance to keys you hold. PayInBTC.me reads your FreshBooks invoice data and builds the payment, but never touches the funds at any point.

Do I need to understand Bitcoin to use this?

The setup takes about five minutes and the payment flow runs on its own after that. Your client handles the Bitcoin side when they pay. You do need somewhere for payments to land, which is what the BTCPay store and its wallet are, and the hosted add-on removes the technical part of setting that up.

Will paid invoices be marked as paid automatically in FreshBooks?

Not yet. PayInBTC.me connects to FreshBooks read-only and does not write back to your books, so you mark the invoice as paid yourself after the confirmation email arrives. Automatic reconciliation is on the roadmap and is not something we claim today.

What does it cost per invoice?

PayInBTC.me charges a flat 1,500 sats per invoice on pay-per-use, or 2,500 sats per month for unlimited invoices, or 25,000 sats per year. The first month is free, with three free invoices on the pay-per-use plan. BTCPay Server itself is free and takes no percentage of the payment; the Bitcoin network fee is paid by your client.

Can I use this if my business is outside the United States or Canada?

Yes, and that is often the reason FreshBooks users look at it. FreshBooks Payments is not available everywhere its users are, and ACH is offered only for US clients, so businesses elsewhere fall back on Stripe Standard or PayPal. A Bitcoin payment through BTCPay Server has no country restriction and no currency conversion on the way in, so where you and your client are located does not affect whether the payment works.

More questions? See our full FAQ →

Accept Bitcoin on FreshBooks Invoices with BTCPay Server